The first words he forgot were Hope, and Fear.

The next were Tolerance, Beauty, Faith, Remorse.

For a long time he remembered words like Gear,

Like Gun, Hammer, and Rudder, and Knife and Horse.

The next words he forgot, or could not read,

Were Buy Our Pills, Our Beer, Our Tires Today.

The last words he unlearned to need or read,

Were Poison, Dangerous Curve, and Keep Away.

A stone rolled in a stream-bed's water and stone

Is rounded and rubbed until no shape, no edge

Tells where it first fell from the overhanging ledge.

It is rubble. It rests. It is one in a drift of stones.

The words he never forgot were words like Give,

And Me, and were words enough to let him live.